


The Standards of Trust

by thetransgirlwhoneverwas



Series: Fictober 2020 [21]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-25
Updated: 2020-10-28
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:35:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27193195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thetransgirlwhoneverwas/pseuds/thetransgirlwhoneverwas
Summary: A series of short stories, set throughout Ahsoka's life, of her and Barriss: the ups, the downs, the betrayals, the heartbreaks, and the connection that binds them throughout eternity.(the first two chapters of this fic were part of Fictober 2020, but the other chapters were written after that series)
Relationships: Barriss Offee/Ahsoka Tano
Series: Fictober 2020 [21]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1952200
Comments: 12
Kudos: 28





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ThisNothingInTheMiddle](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThisNothingInTheMiddle/gifts).



It was supposed to have been a simple exercise. So simple, in fact, that Ahsoka and Barriss had been sent on their own with no supervision. Barriss had chosen to see it as their respective Masters trusting them. Ahsoka had seen it as their respective Masters sending them on a simple errand while they did the dangerous part. All they were supposed to have done was sneak slightly behind enemy lines and find out what this new special weapon was that the Seperatist forces had been boasting about over their hacked communications. Then report back to their Masters about their findings.

They had expected a relatively easy job with a bit of sneaking involved to find some new type of droid. They had not expected an entire battalion of Battle Droids to be waiting for them with the weapon: some form of electromagnetic pulse weapon that not only knocked out their communicators, but also their lightsabers. They’d be operational again in the better part of an hour, Barriss had reckoned. Unfortunately, that meant surviving for an hour while their escape route had been cut off.

Ahsoka and Barriss hid behind two large pillars underneath a huge stone canopy as blaster fire kept them from daring to even take a look at how close the rapidly approaching battalion was. Barriss stood as still as she could, her eyes closed, concentrating, while Ahsoka kept trying to get a look at their oncoming foes, only to be driven back by the blaster fire.

“Ahsoka, be careful!” Barriss shouted, her voice barely audible over the constant barrage.

“I can’t get a look at them!” Ahsoka complained urgently.

“Does it matter how far away they are?” Barriss asked, trying to sound calm but unable to entirely mask the fear in her voice. She was clearly just as afraid as Ahsoka was, but doing a better job of hiding it.

“It would be nice to know how long we have until they kill us!” Ahsoka replied. “Or at least how long we have left to think of a plan.”

“We cannot wait for our Masters to rescue us,” Barriss agreed. “By the time they realise something is wrong and come to find us, we will already be dead. We must find a way out on our own.”

“How do we do that?” Ahsoka asked, still trying to get a good look. “There’s nothing around here we can use as a weapon, and they’ve blocked our only escape route!”

“An opportunity will present itself,” Barriss shouted back. “We simply have to take it when it arises.”

Ahsoka looked around her. Nothing except for the stone canopy above them. It seemed to be connected to some form of structure, but she couldn’t see an entrance anywhere, and by the time she ran around trying to find one, she’d be shot down. There were other pillars further back than they were holding the canopy up, but far enough away that trying to run for one was a foolish errand; they’d be easy targets for the droids. There was nothing else she could see except sand around them.

She closed her eyes and put her back against the pillar, before putting her hand out to her left. She felt the Force flowing through her, through every grain of sand around her, and she gently pushed the balance to disturb a clump of sand to the left of the droids. It worked, and several droids started firing on that spot, looking away from the structure and giving her an opening to dash to her right, ducking behind the pillar where Barriss stood, which thankfully was huge enough to conceal both of them. They still didn’t have a lot of time, however.

“They’re close,” Ahsoka breathed heavily, momentarily stunned from her mad dash across the open space. “We only have a couple of minutes before they’re on us. We need to find something to destroy them with or we’re doomed. There has to be something!” She looked around, desperate to find anything, breathing faster and faster as she searched for any piece of hope.

“An opportunity will present itself,” Barriss repeated, still trying to stay calm, her eyes now open and fixed on Ahsoka’s own. “We simply must wait until it does.”

“We don’t have time to wait!” Ahsoka argued. “If we wait for inspiration we’ll be dead!”

“If we try to see everything we can, we will miss the detail that wins us the day,” Barriss countered. “You are rushing too much, Ahsoka!”

“And you’re not rushing enough!” Ahsoka shot back.

She turned to Barriss, who matched her intense look with one of her own, and they looked into each other’s eyes, hoping to see something that would help, waiting for the other to back down and start thinking each other’s way. Then, suddenly, they moved. Ahsoka didn’t know if she or Barriss had moved first, but before she could think on it they had pulled each other into a long, passionate kiss, and her mind went blank.

A few seconds later, they separated, getting their breath back.

“Does that help?” Barriss asked, a mix of hopeful and coy.”

“Absolutely it does,” Ahsoka responded, and took a deep breath. She looked around, but then inspiration struck her and her mind was directed upwards. “The canopy. We can use it to crush them.”

“We can’t lift that,” Barriss said. “Even together.”

“We don’t need to,” Ahsoka explained. “We just need to drop it on them.”

Barriss thought for a second, running the situation in her mind. “Yes,” she said finally. “Yes, that could work.”

“We can take them all out at once,” Ahsoka supplied, but then stopped. “Wait, no, how do we do that without dropping it on ourselves?”

“The pillars,” Barriss answered without hesitation, and Ahsoka realised they were having the exact same thought process. “If we push over only these front pillars it should slide over us and hit only the droids. But we will need to time it exactly right. We will need to be precise.”

“I think we can do it,” Ahsoka reassured her companion. “The Force will guide us.”

Barriss nodded. “The Force will guide us.”

She picked up some loose stones from the ground, but before throwing them, she quickly held Ahsoka’s hand and kissed her again.

“For luck,” she said, and threw the stones at the pillar to the right of the one they were standing behind. They hit the pillar and the droids were distracted by the sound, giving Ahsoka the chance to once again run to her original pillar. Some droids saw her, but it didn’t matter. They were close enough already.

“Now!” shouted Ahsoka and Barriss in unison, and asked the Force surrounding the pillars to topple them over. They collapsed, and a piece of the huge canopy broke apart under its own weight, sliding harmlessly over their heads on the top of the falling pillars and crashing into the approaching droids. The front row was smashed to pieces immediately, and the canopy skidded along the ground, crushing every droid that it came into contact with. Eventually it ground to a halt on the sand, broken and shattered but having destroyed the vast majority of the droids menacing Ahsoka and Barriss. A few remained, but scattered and confused and leaderless as they were, they were no match for the Jedi launching broken pieces of stone at them with the help of the Force. Within minutes all the droids were gone, and their escape route was secure.

The two Padawans started making their way back to the camp they had been dispatched from, important news on their minds, but as they started off Barriss grabbed Ahsoka’s hand.

“We can’t tell anyone about what happened back there,” she insisted. “Jedi are not allowed to...to have attachments.”

“I would never,” Ahsoka promised. “But I don’t think you need to worry. A lot of Jedi don’t pay that particular rule any heed.”

“They do not?” Barriss questioned. “How do you know?”

“My Master is married to a Senator,” Ahsoka threw out casually, and Barriss almost choked on her own breath. “He thinks I don’t know, but he’s pretty bad at hiding it. Master Kenobi knows as well. I think a lot of Jedi do, they just don’t say anything.”

“But it’s against the Jedi Code, surely?” asked Barriss.

Ahsoka thought for a moment. “Master Fisto told me once that staying true to the spirit of the Jedi was more important than the text of the Code. Master Plo has often told me that caring for others is not a weakness. And Master Skywalker has taught me well. I don’t think that every rule has to be obeyed all of the time, just as long as you don’t betray what the Jedi mean.”

“I…” Barriss seemed lost in thought. “I have always tried to stay true to the beliefs of the Jedi, but...even Master Unduli has told me that I should be less rigid in my views. Perhaps this was a good experience for both of us.”

“It was an experience I’d definitely like to try again,” Ahsoka said.

“Do you mean being shot at by Battle Droids with no hope of escape?” Barriss replied, raising an eyebrow.

“No, no, I meant, the, um…” Ahsoka trailed off and looked at the ground, somewhat embarrassed.

“Oh, I see,” Barriss said cooly, before pulling Ahsoka into another brief kiss. “You mean that.”

“Yes,” Ahsoka said as she leaned in for another kiss. “I meant that.”


	2. Chapter 2

Master Skywalker could hardly stop smiling. He was obviously trying to hide it, but he wasn’t doing a very good job of it. If Ahsoka hadn’t already suspected something, she absolutely would have started now.

“Master, remind me again why I’m going on this trip?” she asked, trying not to sound like she was whining. It didn’t really work.

“Because we need to get this ship back to Coruscant and she needs an escort,” Anakin repeated the same instruction he had already given her every time she had asked why. “There is important data on the Separatists’ strongholds in this quadrant stored in the data banks, and we can’t spare any other ships, so you’ll have to take that one.”

“Even though the hyperdrive is damaged and it’s going to take the ship two weeks to reach the planet?” she asked.

“We’ve made sure you have enough provisions to be comfortable for the trip,” Anakin reassured her, still barely concealing a smile. “The ship is set to autopilot, so you won’t even need to pilot her.”

And why am I going on this trip alone?” Ahsoka was still absolutely not convinced.

“You won’t be alone,” Anakin told her. “There’ll be somebody else going along with you.”

“One other person, and no clones to keep us company?” Ahsoka folded her arms, trying to look unimpressed, but she suspected she just looked petulant.

“We can’t spare any clones either, there’s too much fighting happening in this quadrant,” Anakin explained, and even without being able to tap into the Force Ahsoka would have known it was a lie. There was almost no fighting happening in this quadrant, and if they were really so hard pressed, he wouldn’t be sending her away. She’d be by his side on the battlefield, where she wanted to be. There was only one other place she’d prefer to be at the moment. 

There had been so little action recently, all across the galaxy it was like the two sides had decided to take a break from war and just sit down for a few weeks. At first Ahsoka was relieved to have some time where she wasn’t risking her life every few minutes, but she had quickly grown restless, and she knew her Master was feeling the same way. So why was she sending her away on a two week trip with someone else? There was definitely something he knew and she didn’t.

“Master,” she attempted to sound persuasive. “What are you not telling me?”

“Nothing at all, Ahsoka,” Anakin lied. “Now, pack your things, the ship’s set to leave soon. I’ll see you in a couple weeks, Ahsoka. Pass my regards onto Obi-Wan.”

Ahsoka sighed heavily, knowing that no matter how hard she tried, she wasn’t going to win the argument. Not that there was much of an argument to be won. He had given her an order, and no matter how bad she felt about the prospect of two weeks or boredom with a stranger, she wasn’t allowed to disobey. “Okay, Master.”

“Have fun!” he said, and if Ahsoka didn’t know better she would almost think he meant it. He walked away from her, and her gaze dropped to the floor along with her mood. She could already feel the boredom creeping up on her as she packed what few belongings she would be taking with her that weren’t already on the ship.

Barely a few minutes later, she prepared to board, and saw her Master on the other side of the hanger, talking to someone in a concealing cloak and hood who she couldn’t identify. He saw her staring at them, and gave a jaunty wave. That was definitely suspicious, and Ahsoka wondered what she had done to annoy him sufficiently that he was sending her on this pointless errand. She managed a weak smile, and turned to board the ship. Just before she got on board and lost sight of them, she saw the hooded figure say something to Anakin and he laughed, looking in Ahsoka’s direction.

She walked through the ship, glad that at least the heater was working. It was plenty warm, so thankfully, as promised the trip would be comfortable. She walked through the ship and reached the room that had been designated her quarters according to the manifest. She entered, and immediately spotted two beds. So apparently she wouldn’t even have any privacy on this trip. She sighed, but decided it didn’t matter. There were plenty of rooms on the ship, she could sleep in another one. Who was going to stop her? Nobody with authority was going with her. Master Skywalker had made that quite clear.

She set her things down and lay down on one of the beds, deciding she’d choose a new room later. Ahsoka sighed, cursing whatever bad luck she had brought down on herself to be assigned this arbitrary task. Soon, however, not long before the ship was set to take off, she heard a knock on the door. Her shipmate, she guessed.

“Come in,” she called lazily, barely even bothering to look at the direction of the door.

“Ahsoka?” came a voice in return from outside, and Ahsoka sat up. She knew that voice. She’d know that voice anywhere.

The door opened.

“Barriss?!” Ahsoka’s opinion on the entire assignment changed entirely in a second upon seeing her face. She leapt up from the bed and almost dived into a hug with Barriss, who took a moment to regain her footing and, after checking that there was nobody around, pulled Ahsoka into a passionate kiss, that they became so lost in that they barely noticed the ship pulling away from the hanger and taking off into space around them.

“It’s been far too long!” Barriss said, a smile on her face as big as the one Ahsoka could feel on her own. “I didn’t know it was you joining me!”

“Neither did I!” Ahsoka replied. “My Master didn’t tell me anything.”

“Neither did Master Unduli,” Barriss agreed, and a sudden revelation hit Ahsoka.

“Wait a second,” she said. “Master Skywalker knew something he wasn’t telling me, and he couldn’t stop smiling. He seemed excited to get me on the ship. And that person in the cloak he was talking to, that must have been Master Unduli!”

“They must have known we would be excited to see each other,” Barriss reasoned, and once again they were thinking the same thing. “Does...does that mean they know about...us?”

“I...suppose they must,” Ahsoka questioned for a moment whether that was a good or bad thing. “But they still sent us on this trip together. Two weeks alone with each other. They must have known.”

“Then, I suppose that this is their way of showing us that they’ve given us their blessing,” Barriss said, more hopeful than confident. Ahsoka thought of how Anakin couldn’t stop smiling.

“I think they have,” Ahsoka agreed, confident. They knew. They absolutely knew and they approved. “And even if they haven’t, well, we’ve got two weeks before they can do anything about it,” she smirked.

“Two weeks together,” Barriss’s smile returned and her entire face lit up like the stars outside the ship. “No war, no Order, no responsibilities. Just us.”

“Just us,” Ahsoka said, and kissed her again.


End file.
